Every fiber of my being desired to put this one particular day behind me. I wanted to push it down so deep that the memory of it would fade into nothing. But for the sake of a very fragile band of orphans I love so dearly, I not only promised myself I’d never forget this day, but I also vowed to paint the picture of this day to any and all who would listen.
Can we remove ourselves from our comfort zones for a few moments to face a terrible reality as we revisit a very difficult day I had in Haiti just a few shorts weeks ago?
To be honest, this is the place where I’d like to insert denial. I’d rather pretend as though I never saw real needs in the world. I’d like to take myself to a happy place by ignoring the brokenness...refusing to believe that the orphans and family I love in Haiti actually live some days in the unrelenting heat with no electricity. I don’t like to believe their pain and suffering is real. Someone please tell me it was all just a really bad dream.
I have always been aware of Pastor Nahum’s electricity needs but regretfully it wasn’t until I personally endured an entire day without electricity with them that I fully understood the urgency of this need. Although I’ve spent much time at his place, the electricity would usually only be cut for no more than a few hours at a time before it would turn back on. I don't know, perhaps I didn’t recognize the severity of this need because it wasn’t quite as hot during the times the electricity was cut when I was there in the past.
The day began like any other day. The water boiler was plugged in to boil water for our morning tea and the fans were oscillating creating a pleasant breeze for us. Pastor Nahum’s children and orphans were busy with their morning chores. Some were sweeping the concrete floors, some were changing the sheets on the beds, some were cooking, some were pumping water by hand, and others were gathering clothes to be washed. I could hear Creole praise music booming from the middle bedroom. If I didn’t tell you many of the children living here were orphans, you would never suspect you were in an orphanage. The sweet spirit of joy seemed to float over each person waking through the home and this spirit gave everyone a sense of belonging…a sense of family.
But on this particular day the water in the electric boiler didn’t finish boiling. The fans stopped blowing. And, the music stopped playing. What started off as a particularly perfect day had just made a sharp turn towards a very unkind and brutal type of day. Suffering was in the forecast. I was about to experience a hot scorching summer day in Haiti with no electricity. As soon as the electricity was cut two of the orphans, Bebetou and Jephte, rushed in to check on me. After fidgeting with the fan in my room they glanced sideways at one another sharing disappointment and shame on their dark brown faces. The sweat drops seemed to instantly gather over all of our brows.
All day as my body endured the unfathomable heat I thought of the conveniences of our electrical provisions in the US. I thought of how we stop at nothing to assure our homes are equipped with air conditioning. When our Texas summer temperatures rise above 100 our air conditioned homes are always waiting for us as a place of comfort to relieve us from the heat. How different things were on this day I spent in Haiti.
I walked back and forth from Pastor Nahum’s home to the church. This day seemed to wear on everyone and linger forever. The older children took turns fanning baby Abraham with a book. Some of them tried sleeping on the wooden benches under the church. From the church I looked up at the line of mountains shimmering in the heat against the unbroken blue of the sky. Not a single floating cloud could be found to offer shade from the intense sun. I thought of God’s kingdom. I knew in a way, even though I couldn’t see it with my eyes, His kingdom was near. I had to believe in that horrible hot moment of pain and suffering God cared about the discomfort and agony Pastor Nahum’s orphans had to endure on days they had no electricity. I believed this because I’ve seen how God has taken care of these people before—people so low that no one else cares what happens to them—and everything about God’s past provisions for them echoed purity, redemption, and God’s kingdom. When I remembered all that God had done for them I was encouraged that He would continue to sustain them and be their provider.
When I look into the helpless eyes of baby Abraham, I have to believe God will not forget him. I have to believe their need for electricity to run their fans, a freezer to store their food, and electrical pump to run the water from their water well to their home are all things God cares about. Three or four times I went back in the house to unplug the fan and plug it back in again as if that was going to magically cause the electricity to start working.
Back to Life ministry intends to continue reflecting the Gospel in the lives of the children in Haiti and right now the best way to do this is to meet Pastor Nahum’s crucial need for a solar panel electric system to operate all of the electrical needs for his home, orphanage, school, church, and water well.
Let me explain something. There is a guh-zillion things Haiti does not have so when you come across something they do have…like a store that is an equivalent to our Home Depot stores here in the states it’s quite shocking. When the shock wears off you feel like celebrating or at least posting a picture of this phenomenon.
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| HOW COOL IS THIS?! |
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| THE STORE IS CALLED MSC BUT THE HAITI HOME DEPOT SOUNDS WAY BETTER TO ME |
Now, I’ve not personally been to the Haiti Home Depot but my friends at New Heart who have been investing into Back to Life ministry discovered this little treasure of a store during one of their recent trips to Haiti and were so kind to share these pictures.
Pastor Nahum went to the Haiti Home Depot last week to price everything needed for his solar panel electrical system. He needs a generator, 6 solar panels, 6 batteries, and an inverter.
The generator will cost $2750. The 6 solar panels are $340 each which totals $2040. The 6 batteries are $145 each which totals $870. The inverter will cost $999. After doing the math that brings the grand total to $6659.
After experiencing this day with no electricity, I’m compelled with deep compassion to speak up and be the voice of Pastor Nahum and his orphans. To pretend as if that day never happened would be to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the least of these God has entrusted to me. We need electricity and so do they. Something has to be done to relieve them from these inhumane living conditions. If your heart has been stirred with sympathy for these children, I ask that you will pray about how God wants to use you to make a difference in their lives.
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